The following related U.S. patent applications, having the same inventors as the present application, are herein fully incorporated by reference:
1) U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cPlastic Blow Molded Bottlexe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 09/009,739, filed Jan. 20, 1998;
2) U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cRechargeable Dispensersxe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 08/963,913, filed Nov. 4, 1997;
3) U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cRechargeable Dispensersxe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 08/507,691, filed Jul. 25, 1995, now abandoned;
4) U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cRechargeable Dispensersxe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 08/485,254, filed Jun. 7, 1995;
5) U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cRechargeable Dispensersxe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 08/279,978, filed Jul. 25, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,216;
6) U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cMultiple Neck Spray Bottle, and Methods of Making and Usingxe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 08/808,575, filed Feb. 28, 1997;
7) U.S. design application entitled xe2x80x9cSpray Bottlexe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 29/056,103, filed Jun. 21, 1996.
8) U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cRechargeable Dispensersxe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 08/852,736, filed May. 7, 1997;
9) U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cRechargeable Containers and Dispensersxe2x80x9d, Ser. No. 08/897,838, filed Jul. 21, 1997.
The present invention relates to rechargeable dispensers, in particular, rechargeable spray bottle dispensers, that can be recharged or refilled. Specifically, the present invention is directed to spray bottle dispensers having one or more reservoirs containing chemical associated with the spray bottle dispensers so that the spray bottle dispensers can be recharged by simply adding water or some other suitable solvent, and accessing one or more of the chemical reservoirs to form a diluted chemical reagent.
The use of spray bottles for dispensing chemical reagents (e.g., water, cleaners, soaps, insecticides, hair spray, etc.) is well known. Due to regulations limiting the amount of volatile organic carbons (VOC) released in the atmosphere, products originally contained and dispensed through aerosols are currently being replaced with spray bottles.
Bottlers of chemical reagents typically market their products by purchasing separately empty plastic container bottles and spray heads. The bottlers then fill, assemble, and label the completed spray bottle packages for delivery to retailers. Consumers purchase the filled spray bottles at the point-of-sale, and then use the chemical contents of the spray bottle. Most consumers dispose of the spray bottle upon the one time use of the contents of the spray bottles. However, the spray bottles are still fully functional with respect to containing and dispensing chemical reagents, since the plastic bottles are substantially chemically resistant and the spray heads remain fully functional after using the contents. Conventional point-of-sale type spray bottles can be recharged numerous times with chemical concentrate and water (i.e., at least 10 times, possibly 100 times while maintaining full operation). Thus, consumers dispose large quantities of reusable product (i.e, empty spray bottles) having high utility value.
In today""s environment of numerous regulations to control pollution, and consumer and industrial awareness for conserving resources and reducing landfill waste, it is highly desirable to promote the reuse of products that maintain their utility, and dispose of only products that no longer have any utility. Many bottlers are currently selling concentrate in various sized containers to allow consumers to recharge point-of-sale type spray bottles with their particular concentrates. However, many consumers are unwilling to adopt such methods apparently due to some inconvenience in the steps involved with the recharging process of the spray bottles. In particular, there is some inconvenience in removing the spray head, opening the chemical concentrate container, pouring the chemical concentrate into the empty spray bottle, adding water, and reattaching the spray head to the bottle. Further, consumers apparently lack interest in recharging spray bottles due to some reluctance based on their inexperience and knowledge in mixing and diluting liquids, which is done by processing chemists for the bottlers. In addition, recharging is usually a messy undertaking due to spillage of chemical concentrate while pouring from one container to the other, overfilling, accidentally knocking over the bottle being filled due to its instability when unfilled, and other undesirable mishaps that can occur, that provide substantial inconveniences.
Importantly, sizeable containers (e.g., pint, quart, gallon, liter sizes) of chemical concentrate can be significantly hazardous to transport and handle by consumers unaware of the potent chemical properties of the chemical concentrates. Specifically, chemical spills of concentrate can damage items around the home including flooring, carpeting, counter top in kitchens and bathrooms, shelves, and other items the chemical concentrate could potentially come into contact with. Further, chemical concentrate can impose a significantly greater health risk to persons coming into accidental contact therewith potentially causing tissue burns and other damages.
Most importantly, chemical concentrate imposes a great risk to children who may accidentally ingest the chemical concentrate and become poisoned. Chemical concentrate greatly increases the chance of permanent injury or death in this regard to children versus current diluted chemical reagents contained in point-of-sale type spray bottles.
Our related, co-pending patent application Ser. No. 08/852,736, filed May 7, 1997 and entitled xe2x80x9cRechargeable Dispensers,xe2x80x9d discloses a bayonet (probe) for puncturing reservoirs of chemical concentrate contained within a spray bottle dispenser. In that patent application, the probe is attached to the downtube, which in turn is attached to the spray head. In the present invention, the probe is attached directly to the spray head.
An object of the present invention is to provide a rechargeable dispenser, in particular a spray bottle having one or more chemical concentrate reservoirs disposed within the spray bottle dispenser.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rechargeable dispenser, in particular a spray bottle having one or more chemical concentrate reservoirs disposed within the spray bottle dispenser, and accessible by puncturing.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a probe for puncturing a chemical concentrate reservoir.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a probe for puncturing a chemical concentrate reservoir wherein the probe is connected to the spray head rather than the downtube.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide an adapter so that large neck spray bottles may receive spray heads having small couplers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a diluent filter for a rechargeable dispenser so that diluent is filtered as it is added to the dispenser.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a probe for simultaneously puncturing more than one chemical concentrate reservoir.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that can function as both a downtube and a probe to puncture an insert.
These and other objects of the invention are achieved by an apparatus for use with rechargeable dispensers comprising a spray head having a barrel and a probe connected to the spray head. The probe comprises a connecting portion for attaching the probe to the barrel; a disc portion, the connecting portion and the disc portion defining a through hole; and a shaft portion connected to the disc portion at one end and defining a tip end at another end.
In one embodiment, the spray head includes a movable piston and the connecting portion comprises a first cylindrical portion having an outside diameter, the first cylindrical portion being inserted into the barrel to form a non-locking press fit with an interior of the barrel; and a second cylindrical portion having an outside diameter larger than the outside diameter of the first cylindrical portion, the second cylindrical portion forming a stop against the barrel; wherein a downtube is inserted in the through hole of the disc and connecting portions and attached to the movable piston.
In another embodiment, the connecting portion is generally cylindrical, an interior surface of the connecting portion forms a non-locking press fit with an exterior surface of the barrel, a downtube is inserted in the through hole of the disc and connecting portions and the downtube is attached to the barrel.
In a further embodiment, the probe further comprises a generally cylindrical downtube insertion portion disposed on a lower surface of the disc portion and the connecting portion is generally cylindrical, an exterior surface of the connecting portion forms a non-locking press fit with an interior surface of the barrel and a downtube is attached to the generally cylindrical downtube insertion portion by insertion therein.
Preferably, the shaft includes a groove that extends to the tip end of the shaft portion and the groove is defined by a substantially flat portion, concave portions at each end of the substantially flat portion, and convex portions at ends of the concave portions distal the substantially flat portion.
Another aspect of the invention is a rechargeable spray bottle dispensing apparatus comprising a spray bottle including a first neck portion; a spray head connected to the first neck portion of the spray bottle, the spray head including a barrel; a downtube extending into the spray bottle; an insert having at least one reservoir for containing a dose of chemical concentrate; and a probe for selectively accessing the at least one reservoir of the insert, the probe being connected to the barrel of the spray head.
In a preferred embodiment, the spray bottle includes a second neck portion and a closure to allow a diluent to be added to the spray bottle without removing the spray head connected to the first neck portion of the spray bottle. A second insert for insertion in the second neck includes means for filtering diluent added through the second neck.
Yet another aspect of the invention is a rechargeable spray bottle dispensing apparatus comprising a spray bottle including a first neck portion; an adapter having a larger neck portion and a smaller neck portion, the larger neck portion for coupling to the first neck portion of the spray bottle; a spray head including a barrel, the smaller neck portion of the adapter for coupling to the spray head; a downtube extending into the spray bottle; an insert having multiple reservoirs for containing multiple separate doses of chemical concentrate, the insert being configured for selectively accessing the multiple reservoirs to allow multiple recharging of the spray bottle dispensing apparatus by the insert; and a probe for selectively accessing one or more of the multiple reservoirs of the insert, the probe being connected to the barrel of the spray head.
Various embodiments of the probe include a second shaft portion connected to the disc portion, a third shaft portion connected to the disc portion and a fourth shaft portion connected to the disc portion.
A still further aspect of the invention is a rechargeable spray bottle dispensing apparatus, comprising a spray bottle including a first neck portion; a spray head releasably connected to the first neck portion; a downtube connected to the spray head; a probe tip releasably connected to the downtube; and an insert disposed in the first neck of the bottle.
Preferably, the probe tip is made of a stiffer material than a material of the downtube.
The main concept according to the present invention is to provide a rechargeable dispenser, in particular a spray bottle dispenser package having at least one supply of chemical to allow the spray bottle dispenser to be recharged at least one time. The chemical can be in the form of a gas, liquid, semi-solid or solid. Specifically, the chemical liquid can be a one phase mixture, a two phase mixture, a dispersion or any other chemical reagent preferably having fluid characteristics. The chemical semi-solid can be in the form of a slurry, paste, solid dispersed in a liquid that still exhibits some fluid type characteristics, and the solid can be in the form of a powder, granules, tablet or other solid material form.
The chemical is preferably a concentrated chemical that is readily diluted with a solvent, in particular plain water. Preferably, the chemical can be immediately diluted, however, a chemical substance that can go into solution over a 24 hour or longer period of time can potentially be suitable for some applications.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention involve associating at least one quantity of chemical with the spray bottle dispenser itself. Specifically, the chemical is stored in some manner, and connected directly internally or externally to the spray bottle dispenser. However, the present invention is broader in scope to include packaging the chemical and spray bottle dispenser together (i.e., connected indirectly) to be marketed at the point-of-sale. In this embodiment of the invention, a consumer would purchase the package containing a supply of chemical and the spray bottle dispenser, separate at home the spray bottle dispenser that has been filled by the bottler from the package and store the chemical portion of the package separate from the spray bottle dispenser in the household. The user would then retrieve the stored chemical upon consuming the initial contents of the spray bottle dispenser for purposes of recharging the spray bottle dispenser. Alternatively, the spray bottle dispenser is packaged unfilled along with one or more chemical containing packages (e.g. inserts).
The preferred embodiments of the invention store the at least one quantity of chemical directly or indirectly inside or outside the spray bottle dispenser. In the case of an indirect connection to the spray bottle dispenser, a mechanical fastener such as a plastic strip connects an external chemical reservoir to the spray bottle dispenser. In the case of a direct connection, the chemical reservoir is directly connected internally or externally to the spray bottle dispenser. The most preferred embodiments store the at least one quantity of chemical inside the spray bottle dispenser, particularly the bottle portion, to fully contain any inadvertent spills or leakage of chemical through the life of the spray bottle dispenser. These most preferred embodiments provide substantial advantages for handling, recharging and protecting household items from contact with chemical, and most importantly to prevent accidental ingestion by children. This particular point is especially important due to the much greater potency of chemical concentrate versus diluted chemical reagents currently being sold by bottlers at point-of-sale.
The most preferred embodiments also utilize conventional spray bottle dispenser components including plastic bottles, plastic spray heads, and plastic downtubes. In order to promote products incorporating the present invention, it is particularly important to utilize the standard components that are readily available and relatively inexpensive due to the large quantities sold and consumed. Thus, an add-on chemical reservoir for storing the chemical is highly desirable.
The most preferred add-on type chemical reservoir is an insert received within the bottle portion of the spray bottle dispenser. This type of insert can be manufactured extremely cheaply in high volume while providing all the performance characteristics necessary for a safe and reliable product. Specifically, the insert can be made with one or more chambers or cells containing chemical that can be accessed in various ways. For example, the reservoir can be sealed with membranes that can be punctured with an instrument, in particular the tip of a bayonet or probe. Adding lines of weaknesses, thinning of walls and other means for locally weakening a portion of the chemical reservoir can be implemented for use in the present invention.
The insert according to the present invention can take on many different forms and configurations. A first preferred embodiment of the insert is defined by a cylinder having one or more chambers or cells disposed therein. The interior of the cylinder can be provided with one or more bisecting walls to define the chambers along the length thereof. A cylinder having one or more bisecting walls can be easily extruded or injection molded in plastic. The top and bottom of the one or more chambers of the insert are sealed by upper and lower sealing membranes and/or walls. The membranes can be a plastic molded cap (e.g. snap cap or welded) films, foils, composites of films and foils, or any other suitable composite that is both chemically resistant and subject to being punctured readily by an instrument, in particular, the tip of a probe. Preferably, the bottom of the insert is sealed by a molded wall portion formed integrally with the walls thereof to be leakproof and improve shelf life.
The upper and lower sealing membranes and/or wall portions can be connected to the insert by bonding, adhesive bonding, thermal bonding, sonic welding, or suitable methods for forming a liquid tight seal (e.g., hermetic seal).
This embodiment of the insert can be marketed inside an unfilled or filled spray bottle dispenser at point-of-sale. The downtube and a probe extend into through holes of the insert. The downtube extends down into the lower portion of the bottle portion to access premixed chemical reagent added by the bottler during manufacture. After consumption of the chemical reagent, a user unscrews the spray head and lifts the probe (attached to the spray head) from the bottle portion. Either the spray head (with probe attached) or the insert is rotated so that a chemical reservoir is now positioned where the through hole for the probe was previously positioned (i.e., now registered for being punctured by the probe). The user then forces the tip of the probe through the upper sealing membrane and/or wall portion, down through the chamber, and then punctures the lower sealing membrane and/or wall portion. Water or other suitable diluent can be added through a second neck of the spray bottle. This configuration allows the chemical to be always stored within the confines of the spray bottle dispenser, and minimizes the steps needed for recharging the spray bottle dispenser. In one aspect of the invention, the probe simultaneously punctures more than one reservoir. In another aspect of the invention, the downtube is modified to function as the probe and a separate probe is not needed.
The consumer will experience little inconvenience in lifting the spray head and probe from the bottle portion, rotating either the insert or the spray head, puncturing the chemical reservoir with the probe, adding water through the second neck of the spray bottle before or after adding chemical, and reassembling the spray head portion to the bottle portion. Further, the chemical concentrate stored within the insert is extremely safe for handling and preventing accidental consumption by children (i.e., a child would have to successfully unscrew the spray head portion from the bottle portion, fully remove the probe from the bottle portion, and successfully puncture the insert). Further, even in the event of puncture of the insert by a child, the access opening through the upper sealing membrane would be sufficiently small to substantially limit spilling and preventing the chemical concentrate from being easily ingested by a child. Thus, the present invention provides substantial safeguards over current methods of selling large quantities of chemical concentrate at the point-of-sale, and subsequently having the consumer handle and mix the chemical concentrate in his or her home.
The insert can have one, two, three, four or more separate chambers or cells. The four cell configuration allows the user to initially consume the optional premixed diluted chemical reagent of the spray bottle dispenser, and then recharge the spray bottle dispenser four more times prior to consuming all the chemical contained in the spray bottle dispenser. If the consumer then disposed of the spray bottle dispenser at that point, this would provide at least a four time improvement over the current practice of consumers utilizing a spray bottle dispenser one time prior to disposal. Thus, the consumption of spray bottle dispensers could be reduced four-fold (i.e., one fifth the waste) if fully implemented. The insert can be configured to be removable or non-removable after being inserted in the spray bottle dispenser. The removable insert embodiment would allow a spray bottle dispenser to be used potentially hundreds of times by replacing spent inserts thereby reducing the waste of spray bottle dispensers by ninety percent (90%) or greater.
However, this invention can provide for an even greater improvement over the current practices by consumers. Specifically, the insert and a probe can also be sold at the point-of-sale as a separate item that could be added to a conventional point-of-sale type spray bottle dispenser having no inserts, after the initial consumption of the contents. Or, only the insert can be sold at the point-of-sale as a separate item for use with spray bottle dispensers having inserts and a probe according to the present invention, after the complete chemical consumption of all the reservoirs of the insert initially sold with the unit.
The invention greatly decreases the shipping weight and costs associated therewith, decreases retail shelf space for marketing the product, and most importantly greatly decreases the consumption and waste of plastic material. Specifically, the weight of plastic needed to make the four chamber insert described above is a small fraction compared with the weight of four conventional spray bottle dispensers based on equal amounts of useable diluted chemical reagent.
Further, conventional spray bottle dispensers are substantially greater in cost to produce compared to the insert according to the present invention. Thus, the present invention conserves significant labor and other direct and indirect costs associated with the production of conventional spray bottle dispenser components. Furthermore, the insert according to the present invention can readily be recycled, and could potentially be refilled if an adequate system were developed to reprocess such inserts, however, more than likely the inserts would be disposed of by consumers based on convenience factors.